Robert Gilbert(Bob) Realtor, CPA, MBA, Katy TX Real Estate Expert -281-904-6772

Local Katy Texas Market Report for Year 2011

The Houston Real Estate Market is an extremely large geographic area and very complex market with numerous sub markets all performing pretty much independently. Generalizations about market conditions for the Houston Metropolis make little sense and really have no meaning. Houston has 46 separate and distinct MLS areas. Katy Texas is just one part of these numerous sub-markets. I believe the Katy market is comprised of 3 unique market areas each having different characteristics. The first market area is the town of Katy itself (old Katy) which can be isolated for the most part from the other areas as homes in this area are subject to the rules of the City of Katy. Second is MLS Area 36 which is probably almost all properties that are actually physically located in a Katy mailing address and covers a large geographical area South of I-10. MLS 36 is zoned for the Katy ISD system. Third area is also a huge geographical area North of I-10 being MLS Area 25. This area includes a large segment of Cypress Texas as part of this MLS area. As in prior reports I have written during 2011, my market report will only cover MLS Area 36 or South Katy where there are numerous neighborhoods and a huge number of homes. This is my personal main area of operation.

There is a new classification method of areas in Houston and now one can get data for MLS area 36 broken into two distinct sub areas. These areas are defined by West of Highway 99 and East of highway 99. I have not attempted to write a market report about Cinco ranch as it is comprised of so many separate neighborhoods scattered all over the area. The West of 99 methods to search the MLS may present an opportunity to write about all Cinco Ranch neighborhoods West of Highway 99.

As I have for several months, I have examined the Prudential Gary Greene Realtors (PGG) index they refer to as the “Hotness Index”. I was formerly an agent with PGG in Katy Texas and I still refer on a regular basis to the PGG market data they provide to the public via their web site as it is excellent data and very well done. The “Hotness Index” is a means of measuring demand and really only means anything if it compared to other sub- markets in the Houston Metropolis. During the month of December 2011, South Katy was dropped to eighth after having risen to the number 1 spot during November. South Katy has usually ranked in the top five during spots during the last 4 – 5 years. I really do not have an explanation for dropping to eighth but I believe South Katy will jump back into the one of the top five spots in January 2012.

For the month of December 2011 there were 173 pending sales, 244 actual sales and there were 999 active listings with an inventory of available homes of 4.1 months.

These market numbers being reported are all for the year 2011 and are coming from data supplied by the Houston Association of Realtors. Unit sales are up by 9.09 % from year 2010 or by 244 homes and Median prices have decreased to $240,170 or 2.0 % decrease from 2010. Average prices have decreased by .27 % to $271,532. This continues to be excellent news for the Real Estate Market in Katy as well as Houston. Prices have remained fairly constant while trending slightly downward at the end of the year and can be considered stabilized. The pricing trend line has been for the last 4-5 years shown a small 3-5 % increase and I believe there is reason to believe it will continue during 2012 and probably beyond

The percentage of discount sellers are willing to take from list price has remained constant at 4 % during most of 2011. Months of available inventory has decreased to 4.1 months from 4.2 during year 2011. Pending sales have increased by approximately 11.22 % which I believe continues to be a pre-cursor for continuance of positive trends and hopefully through the winter and spring months of 2012.

Recent clients I have assisted have all at one time or another asked questions about the statistics that I have shown and discussed above. My previous statement includes first time home buyers. The language home buyers use maybe a little different but the questions are about market data pretty much as I have shown. I had a rather detailed discussion of the market numbers over this last weekend with an existing client and also with a new first time home buyer client. Buyers are savvy and want the data.

The chart below shows the makeup of available homes in South Katy by price. 62.0 % of the available homes are priced under $300,000. There are several excellent homes available right now at fairly cheap prices. Please do not count on either prices falling during 2012 or a huge of foreclosures coming on the market.

HOMES AVAILABLE IN SOUTH KATY
17-Jan-12
DOLLAR		NUMBER	NUMBER	% OF	CHANGE
PRICE POINTS		OF HOMES	< 300,000	Total	LAST MONH
<100,000		36			12
100,000-150,000		78			7
150,000 - 200,000		170			16
200,000 - 250,000		163			14
250,000 - 300,000		133	580	62.0%	(4)	45.00
300,000 - 350,000		97		10.4%	8
350,000 - 400,000		83		8.9%	(11)
> 400,000		176		18.8%	(19)
TOTAL		936			23

I had inquiry this past fall from a potential client I have worked with for a fairly long time. They decided to rent a home at first after moving from the East Coast to the Katy area. They want a large home with 5 or more bedrooms, 4 or more baths, 4,500 sq. ft. minimum with a big yard and they have a price budget which makes this possible. However, they continue to read the newspapers on the East Coast and think they will find a bargain short sale or foreclosure matching their criteria here in Katy as they want their children to attend KISD. Unfortunately, the odds of me finding one of these bargain priced large homes is maybe very small at best and shrinking as the days go by. If you are waiting for the deal of a lifetime you and your family will probably never find it at least here in Katy and all the excellent reasonably priced homes will eventually be sold. Timing is everything for most us during our lifetimes. Don't miss the current opportunity to buy a home.

As of January 24, 2012 there are only 32 Foreclosure homes and 23 Short Sale homes available for sale. That is not a very large inventory of distressed homes. There are two fairly good sized homes of over 4,000 sq. ft. that are foreclosures and they are priced at $499,000 and $775,000 which equates to $112 sq. ft. and $149 per sq. ft. respectively. While these maybe excellent prices for either of these two homes these are not what I consider bargain purchases. Twenty four homes considered foreclosures are priced at less than $200,000 with median asking price being $162,400.

Excellent home are available for sale in Katy continue to be available at very good prices. This situation poses itself to a potential buyer to be an excellent opportunity to acquire a home in Katy. Homes for rent in Katy are extremely tight as that trend has continued all during the year 2011 with only maybe a little over one month’s supply of available homes. This situation has existed for a long time and will probably continue into 2012. The rental markets that are close by geographically to Katy being Sugar Land and Cypress are continuing to experience the same robust rental market conditions and it has lasted all year as well. I have had numerous potential clients tell me that will wait and rent a home in Katy or Sugar Land or Cypress. This situation has continued through the entire year. This is a difficult task to accomplish especially if you and your family are working with a limited budget. As soon as a good rental home hits the market at a decent rental price per month it is gone. The time to buy is right now while interest rates are still extremely low and there is a good supply of available homes. The supply of homes priced less than $300,000 will continue to dwindle each month I believe during 2012. I have said this numerous times in the last nine months or so that all of these tremendous opportunities will not be around forever. Katy has everything a family needs to live and act now before it is too late and the gravy train of buying a good home at reasonable price no longer exists.

If you or your family would like to search for homes in Katy or another area near Katy or search the Houston MLS go to my profile on Houston Assocation of Realtors.

Local Real Estate Market Report for Year 2011 Firethorne in Katy Texas

The Firethorne neighborhood is part of Katy Texas or MLS area 36. Firethorne is a Master Planned Community located off of the Highway 1463 about 2 miles south of the I-10 exit. The neighborhood recently opened a new section of homes that are being built east of FM 1463 while the main section of already built homes is west of 1463. FM 1463 gives commuters easy access to I-10 as it maybe 2-3 miles away and to FM 1093 and the West Park Toll way. Firethorne subdivision is located in an excellent spot with easy access to several major roads. It has a same town feel while being close to the big city.

mls area 36, firethorne, katy

Firethorne consists 1,400 acres plus of land with numerous amenities and recreational facilities scattered through the neighborhood. The Developer states Firethorne provides “an urban convenience with small town charm”. Currently there are six (6) builders who are constructing new homes in Firethorne. Firethorne is located in both the Katy and Fulshear areas of far western Houston away from the hustle and bustle of the big city but very close to old Katy Texas. A significant portion of Firethorne is zoned for Katy ISD and the remaining sections are zoned for Lamar ISD. Firethorne is a very beautiful area and has ample recreational facilities. Living allows residents to easily stay in the neighborhood or only travel very close by it.

There current are 50 homes available for sale in Firethorne (per HAR MLS) ranging from $159,900 to $499,971 in list price. Last month there were 59 homes available. The median list sales price or mid-point is $265,400 or $91.93/ sq. ft. with 116 days on the market. As I have reported for the last43 months, there continues to be a good supply of reasonably priced homes available in Firethorne and that combined with the small town atmosphere makes Firethorne a must see for families looking for home in the Katy area. If we examine the breakdown of available homes it indicates:

HOMES AVAILABLE IN FIRETHORNE
17-Jan-12
DOLLAR		NUMBER	NUMBER	% OF	CHANGE
PRICE POINTS		OF HOMES	< 300,000	Total	LAST MONH
<100,000		0			0
100,000-150,000		0			0
150,000 - 200,000		7			1
200,000 - 250,000		13			(3)
250,000 - 300,000		10	30	60.0%	(1)
300,000 - 350,000		5		10.0%	2
350,000 - 400,000		8		16.0%	(4)
> 400,000		7		14.0%	(4)
TOTAL		50			(9)

As we can see from the above chart, 30 homes (down from 33 last month) or 60 % of the available homes are priced at $300,000 or less. The percentage of available homes priced at or less than $300,000 increased but the actual number decreased by 3 while overall inventory was reduced by 9 homes. It is my personal opinion as it has been for the last 4-5 months that the number of reasonably priced homes will continue to decrease each month until late spring or early summer as builders will try very hard to sell inventory homes and delay construction of new spec homes. As I have said several times this year, if you thinking of buying a home in this area of Katy or any other master planned community stop procrastinating and take action as these very affordable homes are slipping through your fingers. Activity levels during early January 2012 indicate many buyers are back in the market once again.

During the first year of 2011, there were 176 homes sold in Firethorne with low being priced at $149,500 and the high being priced at $612,004. The median adjusted sales price or mid-point price of homes sold the year of 2011 is $270,911 or $87.19/ sq. ft. and the average adjusted sales price is $286,920 or $ 88.58 sq. ft. The absorption rate or numbers of months of available inventory is 3.4 months which has continued to move into a sellers’ market position as this indicative statistic has gone down almost every month since August when the supply was 5.2 months.

The breakdown of sales for year 2011 is as follows:

HOMES SOLD IN FIRETHORNE
12 MONTHS 2011
DOLLAR		NUMBER	NUMBER	% OF	CHANGE
PRICE POINTS		OF HOMES	< 300,000	Total	LAST YEAR
<100,000		0			0
100,000-150,000		0			0
150,000 - 200,000		30			6
200,000 - 250,000		40			(9)
250,000 - 300,000		34	104	59.1%	(15)	(18.00)
300,000 - 350,000		25		14.2%	3
350,000 - 400,000		22		12.5%	(2)
> 400,000		25		14.2%	6
TOTAL		176			(11)	-5.88%

Units sold so far during 2011 are down slightly by 11 homes versus year of 2010 or 5.9 % decrease. The good news here is the median price of homes sold has increased by $2,561 or .9 %. The discount from list price has been reduced from 5 % during 2010 to 3 % for 2011 as this seller concession amount has decreased and I personally think this will continue during early 2012. This is also good news for home sellers. However, the median number of days on the market has increased from 59 last year to 85 days for 2011. This statistic tracks about the same as all of MLS area 36 and similar to Grand Lakes and several other neighborhoods in the Katy Area. Prices of resale homes in Firethorne are lower than in Grand Lakes.

There are 13 pending sales in Firethorne with 4 homes being priced above the $300,000 level and 9 priced below that level. There are NO available foreclosure or short sale homes.

The year 2011 found 6 foreclosures being sold in Firestone at a median price of $197,150.

It is still excellent time to look and buy a home in Firethorne, Grand Lakes, Cinco Ranch ( new and resale), Seven Meadows, Silver Ranch, Kelliwood, Green Trails or any other neighborhood in the Katy or surrounding areas.. If you and your family are interested in Firethorne or any other neighborhood in Katy and I will be happy to arrange to take you on a tour of the whole area.

If you or your family would like to search for homes in Firethorne or another neighborhood in Katy or search the Houston MLS go to my profile on Houston Assocation of Realtors.

Green Opportunities in Katy Texas

On Saturday January 28, 2012 there are two Green opportunities in Katy Texas. The first is a recycling “Drive Through” event being held at McMeans Junior High School. The McMeans Student Council wants to get more community involvement in the whole avenue of saving the planet and using recycling as a start. They are looking for anything type of paper product be brought to the school’s teacher parking lot from 9:00 A. M. until 11: 00 A. M. Student Council members will be in attendance to take all the papers goods you bring with you and hey promise you will not have to even get out of your car. McMeans Junior High School is located at 21000 Westheimer Parkway Katy, Texas 77450. If you want more information about McMeans go to their web site.

An electronics recycling drive will take place also on Saturday January 28, 2012 which is being sponsored by the group Keep Katy Beautiful which is an imitative of the City of Katy. The event will be held at Harvest Plaza in Old Katy located at 5701 Third Street Katy Texas. CompuCycle will be running the electronics collection. CompuCycle is Houston’s first R2 certified electronics recycling company and is also recognized by the EPA. Items listed for collecting include but are not limited to old computers, hard drives, printers, LCD screens, memory chips, old phones and cell phones, fax machines, small kitchen appliances and batteries. However, CompuCycle will not take vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, washing machines, weed eaters, TV’s larger than 27 in.

Here we are Katy a golden opportunity to clean out the garage and get rid of a bunch of junk that is collecting dirt and help to recycle unused items. All of this recycling efforts help to keep our neighborhoods clean and are Green activities.

Katy Texas Home and Garden Show being held on January 28-29, 2012

The Merrell Center and Robinson Pavilion will be the home to the Katy Home & Garden Show on Saturday January 28 and Sunday January 29, 2012.There will be over 300 different exhibits in both buildings covering two2 floors. The show will include remodeling, home improvement, decorating and landscaping themes. Other items include but are not limited to items such as kitchens and baths, home theater, windows and doors, siding, decor, various new home builders, blinds and shutters, pools & spas, flooring, heating/cooling and numerous other items. See numerous new products and check out some really good deals. Invest in your home now as it really pays off especially in the Katy, Texas market area. Comparison shop several different vendors all at one show and decide which one has the best product for the best price and service. Learn from several experts in their areas of expertise.

Free food sampling will be available in the pavilion. The promoters tell everyone to bring an appetite as you will experience a true taste of Texas by visiting the 10 different food booths.

The hours are: Saturday January 28, 10AM - 6 PM; Sunday January 29, 11 AM - 5 PM. Ticket prices are $9.00 for adults; Senior’s $7.00; Military $5.00; and Kids 12 & under FREE. Parking is FREE.

Steve Katkowsky TV personality and Design expert will be the featured performer on Saturday January 28.

If you need additional information call 281-396-2562

The Merrell Center is easy to find as just head west on I-10 and exit at FM 1463 and turn north or right assuming you are heading west or left if heading east. The address is 6301 South Stadium Lane Katy, TX.

This is excellent show to attend and enjoy. The show includes many products for one to see and numerous exhibitors and exhibits to learn new techniques. The prices are family friendly and the vendors are eager to earn your business... I hope to see you there!!!!

Click here and print the coupon which will save 3.00 off one adult ticket.

Local Job Fair in Katy Texas

A job fair will be held on Thursday January 26, 2012 at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Community church located at 15030 Norwalk Dr. Katy Texas. The fair is from 9:00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M. The job fair is FREE and it is estimated over 50 companies will be in attendance looking to fill positions ranging from Receptionist to Vice President in the industries of finance, healthcare, IT , engineering plus numerous others.

A complete list of all companies and positions the companies are attempting to fill will be given to job candidates on Thursday morning. Please do not ask for a list prior to the event as the effort is to provide the most accurate information to job seekers.

The job fair is steered in the direction of degreed career minded professional individuals. Individuals with some college and/or substantial work experience are encouraged to attend.

The main instruction to job seekers is to bring a large number of resumes and dress appropriately.

The blog I posted on Saturday January 21, 2012 was titled “Create an Electronic Resume in Katy Texas” and the above Job fair goes hand in hand with having a resume. Good luck to all the attendees. Epiphany of the Lord is a friendly place and the folks there will be helpful and courteous. My family and I are members of this church.